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Buying a home can be treacherous. You rely upon many other people to guide you, but sometimes those folks fail you. Take care of yourself and do some of your own minimal investigation. If you are purchasing in Minneapolis or St. Paul, you can visit the websites for these cities and check on the inspection records for any home. You can also locate valuations over the past few years. Double check to make sure the home you are interested in is not on any City lists for vacant and unoccupied homes. In St. Paul, a home on that list cannot be legally sold unless you as the buyer agree to undertake all the work necessary to get it removed from the list; this is a City ordinance. Don’t rely, verify!

Sometimes driving and parking in downtown St. Paul is just not what you want to do, so I am offering up meetings via Skype so we can chat about your legal issues as conveniently as possible. Email or call to schedule a Skype session.

If you own a condominium unit in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and have great plans to rent it out for the Super Bowl LII, beware. Many Association’s are warning their owners of steep penalties if the units are rented for this event and you may jeopardize the ability for your condominium project to qualify for FHA financing. Read this article and learn more: http://minnlawyer.com/2016/05/16/some-condo-associations-move-to-block-super-bowl-rentals/

Hey folks in Minnesota, are you following the fall out from Prince’s death? It may be that he did not have a will, so the state law regarding intestacy (meaning: no will) applies. It will all play out in probate court with play by play action reported by the media. Just another reminder to get your estate planning done, especially if you want control over what happens when you are gone and if you want to provide your family and friends with a roadmap on your afterlife intentions. Check out the local paper article here: http://www.startribune.com/court-hearing-today-in-carver-county-on-prince-estate/377780821/

Don’t surf the internet to get your lease if you are a Minnesota landlord. There are a number of specific statutes in Minnesota which require certain language within your lease. Be safe, call a lawyer and get the right form. It is cheaper to do that on the front end then pay for a lawyer when fighting over your lease terms on the back end.

If you are contemplating moving out and converting your home into rental property in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, you will want to check with your local city or municipality to see if you need to get a license and if you need to apply to convert your home for that use. Some cities will charge a “conversion fee” to change the use of your property to a rental.

The good news is that the economy seems to be ticking along and new home construction and remodeling jobs seem to be increasing. But, what do you do when the work you paid for is defective? Here in Minnesota, there are statutory warranties for newly constructed homes and remodeling work (Minnesota Statutes Chapter 327A). You must, however, give the contractor the ability to come and inspect the work and an opportunity to correct the defect before proceeding with a lawsuit. When you think about it, that is only fair to the contractor. You need to follow the obligations set forth in the statute to preserve your warranty claim. Similarly, a contractor needs to be responsive to a homeowner’s notice or face legal action. Don’t let your frustration and anger, and that comment goes to both the contractor and homeowner, get in the way of following the law as to warranty claims. If in doubt, call us. We have represented both homeowners and contractors in these types of claims.

In Minnesota, workman and material suppliers may have the right to file a lien against your home if you do not pay them for work. The right is governed by statute with a number of steps that need to be followed to make sure the lien is valid. We have represented both contractors who have not been paid for work and property owners who may be subject to lien claims so are very familiar with the ins and outs of these types of claims. The take away today is that a lien claimant must serve and record their lien within 120 days after their last date of work and begin to foreclose their lien within 1 year of their last date of work. Every situation is unique, so do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions about mechanic’s liens.

The proposed legislation would require hospitals to train family caregivers so that when your loved one is released from hospital care, you have some training on how to care for them. How often have we all been in the situation of leaving a medical facility a bit perplexed as to what needs to happen next? Follow the debate this coming legislative session.